Mid and later life care work migration: Patterns of re-organising informal care obligations in Central and Eastern Europe

Background: Many women in mid or later life from Central and Eastern Europe commute for live-in 24-hour care work to Austria. In addition to paid care work abroad, the majority of women in this age group is confronted with informal (family) care obligations towards children, towards older relatives or towards grandchildren.

Objective: This study aims to explore the patterns of re-organising these informal care obligations (childcare, long-term care and domestic work) in the respective home country and to analyse the factors that determine the re-organisation.

Methods: The study builds on qualitative interviews with 20 migrant care workers aged 40years and over, 9 Romanian and 11 Slovakian women providing 24-hour care work in Austria.

Results: All interviewees commute in 2- to 4-weekly shifts between the home country and Austria and report multiple informal care obligations towards family members in the respective home country. In most cases, members of the nuclear and extended family, and in many cases husbands or partners of migrant care workers, act as the main substitute caregivers. Institutional care provision plays a more important role for child care as against for older people in need of care for whom care services are hardly available or accessible in the countries observed.

Discussion: While re-organisation depends much on the specific family constellations, strong assumptions towards family care, the limitations in (monetary) resources and the lack of public welfare provisions strongly co-determine the arrangements.